The University of Louisville football team arrived at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Saturday with quite a few things at stake.

First and foremost, the Cardinals badly wanted to beat their archrival Kentucky for the fourth consecutive time, which they did in riveting, 44-40 fashion. But the possibility of a trip to the Orange Bowl lingered in the players and coaches' minds.

In beating Georgia, Georgia Tech likely eliminated that possibility. To make Louisville's Orange Bowl path narrower, higher-ranked Clemson topped South Carolina. Both teams are ranked ahead of Louisville and will likely to stay that way.

With a week to go until the bowl selection process, U of L (9-3) is in good position to receive an invitation to a respected bowl game.

"I'm just going to let it all play out," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said on Saturday. "Right now I'm just enjoying this (UK) win."

Next Sunday, the College Football Playoff selection committee will pick four playoff teams and the eight other teams headed to the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange and Peach bowls. Once that happens, the Russell Athletic Bowl will get the first pick from the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference's bowl-eligible teams, and then the ACC and its bowl representatives will divvy up the remaining bowl invitations.

At this point, there are probably six bowls in play for U of L. The Russell Athletic Bowl and the Music City Bowl appear to be the most popular options among bowl projections released on Sunday, though the TaxSlayer, Pinstripe, Belk and Sun bowls are also potential landing spots, too.

The Cards walloped Miami 36-9 in last year's Russell Athletic Bowl. That game ended up being an emphatic send-off for star quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and former coach Charlie Strong. This year's version of the bowl game takes place Dec. 29 at Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando and would pit U of L against a Big 12 opponent.

The Music City Bowl is on Dec. 30 in Nashville and would bring an SEC opponent to face Louisville.

The new College Football Playoff rankings, which will be released on Tuesday, will clarify Louisville's postseason options. The Cards won't catch Georgia Tech, which rated six spots ahead of U of L in the most recent CFB Playoff top 25, but it'll be interesting to see how the CFB Playoff committee ranks Clemson and Louisville.

Clemson was one spot higher than Louisville in last week's top 25, and it's more likely than not that the Tigers will maintain their position in front of the Cards.

Petrino said the players will have the first few days of this week off to relax, rest and recuperate after a 12-game regular season. They'll return to the weight room later this week to keep up their conditioning and strength as they wait for their bowl future.

They'll also wait for more definitive answers on the status of freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon, who injured his left knee in Louisville's win over Kentucky. Petrino had not received an update on Bonnafon as of Saturday evening.

But for now, the Cards just want to savor their win – at least for the next few days.

"I'm proud of the way we finished the season," Petrino said. "They were focused. They were ready. They knew what was at stake."